Don’t Panic! The Google 3 Weeks Places Update Isn’t Worldwide!
February 13th, 2014 by
Now that we’re done making sure your Google business account doesn’t get suspended for a name violation, we’re on the the next Google worry.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_napkin/6469892859/
You may have heard the buzz lately about an email going out to business owners in Google Places telling them that they have three weeks to update their listing. If the listing isn’t updated, it will no longer be visible to Google users. The good news is that this is actually something that is only occurring for Australian businesses. Basically, you don’t have to worry!
When we first heard about this issue at Search Influence, we were alarmed because an update like this could potentially affect many of our clients’ accounts. So, I decided to delve deep into the web and find out as much as I could from various online sources, and what I found was even more worrisome and ambiguous. Search Engine Watch’s post was the first that brought this issue to my attention. The post provided great information on what needed to be done by those receiving the email, but nothing about the scale of the email rollout and who was being contacted and why.
The Word From Google
Search Engine Journal’s post was awesome enough to give us the exact email google sent out, which reads as follows:
Hello,
Due to changes in Google Maps, we’d like to inform you that unless you review and confirm the information in your Google Places account, we will no longer be able to keep and show it to Google users after February 21, 2014.If you wish to keep your listing active, follow these three easy steps:
1. Log in to your Google Places account
2. Review and update your information
3. Click the “Submit” buttonSincerely,
The Google Places Team
The fact that the email instructed businesses to click a “Submit” button when updating indicated to me that these were businesses in the old dashboard. So, I thought I had a clue as to who was being contacted at this point.
Next, I went to discussions on MOZ and Google Product Forums where I started seeing comments that maybe this was only something happening in Australia.
Calling The Google Places Team
After seeing both of these slightly alarming, but informative posts I decided to go straight to the source and call The Google Places Team. They were super helpful in taking the time to get to the bottom of the email and were forthcoming about the issue at hand. They also understood that something like this could affect a company like ours on a pretty large scale. The rep on The Google Places Team reached out directly to Google and was able to confirm with me that this is indeed something only happening to Australia Maps.
There have been speculations as to whether or not this is something that could start happening outside of Australia, because Google has a tendency to do things in a test market before rolling them out worldwide. From what the Google rep told me, however, it seems like this is only happening because of an issue that was occurring specifically with Australia Maps.
So, DON’T WORRY! United States Places Businesses are NOT at risk!!
If you’re interested in reaching out to The Google Places Team, log in to your Google places account that has your business listing and click here: https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_c2c
Mary,
Thanks for getting this info out there so quickly!
Thank you Mary! We received an email alert from Local Site Submit, who had picked it up from SEJ (Search Engine Journal) http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-sending-warnings-business-owners-3-weeks-save-google-places-listing/89361/
There wasn’t much to the article, just enough though to get everyone in a panic. I started checking the accounts we manage and realized there was NO submit button and that it may have something to do with older listings that didn’t have the new dashboard yet. I then went to the Local Search Forum and asked Linda Buquet she told me it was only the Aussie listings. I always go their for the right information and should have done it from the start.
We have been fans on SEJ, but after this, I’m not sure. They, along with many other people and businesses that blogged about it, got everyone in a panic. SEJ never responded to any of the comments made on the article they posted. What I love about Linda and Mike Blumenthal is that they always respond to comments made and try to help.
I no longer subscribe to SEJ. If I want up-to-date news on Google+ Local, I subscribe to the Local Search Forum, Blumenthals’ blog, LocalVisibility’s blog, Google and Your Business Forum and a few more resources we can trust. Google+ Local is only only on of our services.
I’m usually pretty good about keeping up with the wisdom of Mike Blumenthal but somehow missed his post about this exact issue in the beginning February. Thanks for bringing up such a great knowledge resource! Also, thanks for your feedback on the post. Hopefully my information directly from the Google reps was comforting!